Elena Rybakina will look to bounce back from her disappointing Australian Open run as she takes on the Abu Dhabi Open this week.
Rybakina had the potential for Australian Open success, but she suffered a fourth round loss to Madison Keys.
Keys went on to lift the trophy at the Australian Open, ending her superb run with a final win over WTA number one Aryna Sabalenka.
Coaching changes have dominated the talk about Rybakina in recent times, with the world number five having hired Goran Ivanisevic ahead of the 2025 season.
But Ivanisevic has wished Rybakina luck after the pair split following her Australian Open exit, a competition in which she wasn’t allowed to have another coach in Stefano Vukov by her side.
Elena Rybakina ‘learned a lot’ from Goran Ivanisevic after Australian Open split
Vukov has been provisionally suspended by the WTA due to a potential breach of conduct, but he is currently working with Rybakina in Abu Dhabi.
Asked by journalist Reem Abulleil if she has been given a timeline for the investigation of Vukov by the WTA, Rybakina replied: “No, I don’t know much. It’s a situation that I’m not happy with, but it is what it is and for now I don’t know much.”
And questioned why she thinks it didn’t work out with Ivanisevic, she said: “I wouldn’t say it was something specific. We just sat down, we talked and decided to go our separate ways.
“But as I said I think I learned a lot and it’s not easy to find a good collaboration. It of course takes time, but that was our decision, so we’ll see how it goes this year for me.
“I’m also not such an easy player, maybe like some people think, ‘Oh it’s easy with her’, it’s not really like this, but we will see how this year goes.”
Elena Rybakina adds Davide Sanguinetti to coaching staff ahead of Abu Dhabi title defence
In another twist to Rybakina’s ongoing coaching saga, Davide Sanguinetti has been added to her team, and is also in Abu Dhabi.
The 25-year-old is the defending champion at the event, which represents one of eight tour-level titles for the former world number three.
READ MORE: Emma Raducanu handed an unexpected boost ahead of the Abu Dhabi Open
Discussing her latest coaching change, Rybakina noted: “We are working with Davide, we just did one week of preparation with him and Stefano [Vukov] a little bit.
“I knew him a little bit from before, so yeah he was actually available and sometimes he will speak with Stefano since they know each other.
“We’ll see how it goes but for now I am happy with the way we worked this week, hopefully it goes well for us, but again it is something you need to take time with and get used to each other.
And further discussing Vukov, she added: “I think safeguarding is important, but the case that happened with us, I don’t think it was handled well.
“At the end of the day you need to listen to the player, that is the most important, because as I said before there are a lot of comments from people that are also in our environment but they are making comments not knowing me, not knowing him, and it just makes it a bad look for everyone.”
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